BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 1001
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 8, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                     SB 1001 (Yee) - As Amended:  June 21, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              ElectionsVote:4-1

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill imposes fees on certain political committees and 
          increases fees on lobbyists, with most of the resulting revenues 
          to be used for the Secretary of State's (SOS's) online 
          disclosure system. Specifically, this bill:

          1)Requires each committee that qualifies as a committee by 
            virtue of having received contributions totaling $1,000 or 
            more in a calendar year (known as a recipient committee) to 
            pay a fee of $50 per year to the SOS until the committee is 
            terminated.

          2)Imposes a penalty of $150 for failure to timely pay the fee in 
            (1).

          3)Increases, from $25 to $50, the annual fee each lobbying firm 
            and lobbyist employer pays for each of their registered 
            lobbyists, and makes imposition of this fee mandatory rather 
            than discretionary.

          4)Requires the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) to 
            enforce the above requirements.

          5)Directs one-half of the monies collected pursuant to (3) to 
            the General Fund and the other half of these revenues, plus 
            the revenues generated through the fee in (1), to the newly 
            established Political Disclosure, Accountability, 
            Transparency, and Access Fund, which is to be used, upon 
            appropriation by the Legislature, for maintenance, repair, and 
            improvement of the SOS's online disclosure (Cal-Access) 
            system.









                                                                  SB 1001
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           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Average annual revenue of $440,000 to the Political 
            Disclosure, Accountability, Transparency, and Access Fund: 
            $390,000 from the new fee on recipient committees and $50,000 
            from the increase in lobbyist registration fees.

          2)The SOS will incur annual costs of about $80,000 for one 
            position associated with collection of the fee and monitoring 
            of revenues in the account. The bill earmarks revenues in the 
            new fund to maintenance, repair, and improvement of the 
            Cal-Access system. The SOS estimates annual maintenance costs 
            for the system at about $60,000. The remaining annual revenue 
            ($300,000) may accrue into the fund for up to several years, 
            as improvements to the system, or a new system, could cost in 
            excess of a million dollars.

          3)Any costs to the FPPC for enforcement will be minor and 
            absorbable.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . According to the author, "Existing law, pursuant to 
            the Political Reform Act of 1974, requires the Secretary of 
            State, in consultation with the Fair Political Practices 
            Commission, to provide online and electronic filing processes 
            for use by specified political committees, lobbyists, lobbying 
            firms, and lobbyist employers.  Those processes must enable a 
            user to comply with all relevant disclosure requirements.  The 
            SOS must also make all the data filed available on the 
            Internet for public viewing in an easily understood format.  
            This online reporting and disclosure system is commonly 
            referred to as the Cal-Access system.  Cal-Access has had a 
            slew of technical issues recently that have resulted in a lack 
            of access to this information by the public.  This information 
            is essential to ensuring transparency and accountability in 
            affairs that directly impact the people of this state.  While 
            the SOS has the funding to maintain the existing hardware and 
            software, because of the nature of the antiquated and uncommon 
            technology used, finding parts and qualified people to do the 
            maintenance on such outdated equipment has been increasingly 
            difficult.  This bill seeks to raise additional funds to be 
            used on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of the 
            state's online reporting and disclosure system website to 
            ensure that this information is continuously available as it 








                                                                  SB 1001
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            was intended to be."

           2)Opposition  . The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, while 
            acknowledging the problems experience by the SOS with the 
            Cal-Access system, argues that "targeting lobbyists is a 
            punitive measure that will hit non-profit associations 
            especially hard in a difficult recession."

           Analysis Prepared by :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081